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Torchlight II expects you to stand there and take it

Robsavillo
Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Torchlight II gets right to the point. It’s not interested in wasting your time with introductory sequences or tutorials or any of that other bullshit. It’s fast-paced, responsive, and ready for you to start smashing skulls within the first seconds of play.

I’m probably going to enjoy Torchlight II since everything from the original is back and then some. With more pets and more character classes and more skills and a seemingly infinite number of swords and armor pieces and necklaces and rings and gems and other, must-have loot, Torchlight II is comfortably familiar. I’m quickly back into my old habits of performing dazzling attacks that pop open nightmarish creatures who suffer from incredibly high blood pressure ... all made easy with a recharging mana bar.

But something happened last year that forever changed my perception of these point-and-click, action role-playing games. Bastion. While also as impressed as others with the slick, procedural level generation and the hauntingly somber voice-over companion, I instead loved a much simpler improvement so much more: the ability to dodge.

 

Giving players the option to avoid incoming attacks with a tactical move rather than a forced retreat changes everything. In Torchlight, I do a lot of running back and forth against high-health bosses. For lower-caste enemies, I’ll hold steady and spam devastating area-of-effect attacks and chug recovery potions. Sure, bursting open dozens of meat bags is visually striking and entertaining even if only for a while. But Bastion adds a risk/reward element that’s entirely based on player skill.

Bastion

Suddenly, you realize that positioning is much more important. Reading your opponents’ move sets likewise becomes vital to survival. The action is no longer an indecipherable mess of blood and guts and special effects but one of keen observation and timing. Now, you’re invested in the moment-to-moment combat beyond mere glances and reflexive left- and right-button mouse clicks forever burned into muscle memory.

So to see Runic Games, a developer founded by the creators of 1996’s Diablo that kicked off the whole genre, releasing Torchlight II last week with all its polish but without the inclusion of an ability to roll out of the way is a shame. (And I do mean an innate ability, not an unlockable skill. Dragon’s Dogma does the latter, allowing only a single character class to partake in the joys of dodging. Come on, Capcom! You know better.)

This is a feature standard in the very best third-person action games on consoles -- I'm talking about From Software’s Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls and Capcom’s Monster Hunter series. After playing those, going back ain't easy.

These developers get it. Indie developer Supergiant Games brought it to the isometric ARPG with Bastion. It’s time the big players get it, too.

 
Tags: Diablo, Demon's Souls, Monster Hunter Tri, Bastion, Dark Souls, Dragon's Dogma, Torchlight II
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Alexander Kraus
September 26, 2012

"Torchlight II" and other Diablo-like games are distinct from other Action RPGs because they use a point and click interface.  One I feel is slowly becoming draconic and cumbersome.

Point and click action RPGs seem to rely on a path-finding algorithm, which is slow to process.  When you click your mouse in these games the computer gets the X/Y coordinate of the mouse and feeds it into an algorithm, then moves the character to that location.  So far it sounds simple, but then you consider obstacles in the way.  The Artificial Intelligence of your character has to work around these obstacles like monsters or terrain.  Then it has to do this every single time you click your mouse button, or hold it down.

Imagine if you have to do a 15 step math problem 50 times per second.  And that is only the slightest hint of how much memory is consumed for this kind of algorithm.

Action RPGs like "Bastion" use a movement algorithm, which is much easier.  When you move your thumbstick to the left, the game reduces the X-coordinate of your character's position.  How far and how long depends on how long you pull the thumbstick left and how far from center.

This simplified movement algorithm also opens up more mobility.  Dodging is a good example of this, but you can also jump in the game or strafe while blocking with your shield like in "Dark Souls".

Point and click action RPGs can't handle this plethora of movement because the path-finding algorithm is already complicated.  Implementing parkour-like moves in a point and click interface is like trying to just port a Real Time Strategy game to a console without changing the controls.

Its a mechanic that is showing its age, and one that doesn't seem to change anytime soon.  I wished "Torchlight II" did allow for a more simple movement algorithm, but I can only hope that this will be implemented in the future from modders.

Robsavillo
Rob Savillo
September 26, 2012

Wow, that's really insightful! Makes a lot of sense. I wonder, though, couldn't you just make it so that your character dodges toward wherever you click the mouse or wherever the mouse is located when you press a particular key?

I'm not tied to the point-and-click interface, either, but using a mouse makes inventory management a lot easier. But the Runic devs did say that they really liked how Torchlight played on Xbox 360 with a controller.

And for the record, I played Bastion with a keyboard and mouse.

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Alexander Kraus
September 26, 2012

I played "Bastion" with a keyboard/mouse combo as well.  But the big difference as your article states and I mentioned is "Bastion" using the movement algorithm.  "Torchlight II" uses the traditional point and click, path-finding algorithm in PC action RPGs.

I agree with you that using a mouse when it comes to inventory management is better.  But your thesis, I'm assuming, is based upon controls in combat.  One control method doesn't always work well with each situation.  See my example of Real Time Strategy games being ported straight to consoles with no modification.

With "Bastion" it doesn't have an inventory to manage.  In fact, all of your micro-management of equipment are handled at the Hub-world to change your weapons or purchase items.  When you are in a dungeon, you can't access your inventory so the 'flow' of inventory management is moot.

In theory I think point and click action RPGs could implement a dodge mechanic by pressing a button, as you described.  We already have a button that puts the brakes on your character so they can attack enemies, instead of running past them.  I'm not sure what button to use as the buttons for these games are already spread thin on the keyboard.  Maybe the 'C' key?  That might get awkward, being near the quick healing potion buttons.

If "Torchlight II" had a movement algorithm like "Bastion", then you could move your character around with WASD controls, or any button combination you prefer.  You can still attack enemies with your mouse, but this frees up the Shift key to work as a 'dodge' button, instead of being 'brakes'.  As your article states, this works just fine with "Bastion", so it's not like its a revelation.  Just different options on how to enjoy our action RPGs.

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Edgar Mena
October 02, 2012

Programing speak aside, the main deferences between the two games is that Torchlight gives you armor to soak up the damage you take, where as Bastion, despite all it's weapon options, does not.

 

Torchlight's roots spring from pen and paper rpgs, where a character's stats and equipment will give him a percentage chance to avoid attacks, and that's clear from the "Arcane Statistics" in Torchlight. This displays your character's  damage reduction from incoming attacks, chance to automatically block attacks with a shield (if equiped), and a chance to automatically dodge attacks, although in this case the attack will hit your character and deal no damage.

 

"Bastion" is more of an action game, with rpg elements, since you will have to manually move "The Kid" to avoid attacks as well as manually use your shield to block attacks. Thankfully, you have a dodge button to quickly avoid enemy attacks, since "The Kid's" default running speed is fairly slow.

Robsavillo
Rob Savillo
October 03, 2012

Absolutely. I think it's clear I fall more on the hands-on side than the hidden-die-roll side. It would certainly add to the feel of Torchlight's already visceral combat.

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